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Casino

Plot
Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire.

Release Year: 1995

Rating: 8.2/10 (151,605 voted)

Critic's Score: 73/100

Director:
Martin Scorsese

Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci

Storyline This Martin Scorsese film depicts the Janus-like quality of Las Vegas--it has a glittering, glamorous face, as well as a brutal, cruel one. Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, mobsters who move to Las Vegas to make their mark, live and work in this paradoxical world. Seen through their eyes, each as a foil to the other, the details of mob involvement in the casinos of the 1970's and '80's are revealed. Ace is the smooth operator of the Tangiers casino, while Nicky is his boyhood friend and tough strongman, robbing and shaking down the locals. However, they each have a tragic flaw--Ace falls in love with a hustler, Ginger, and Nicky falls into an ever-deepening spiral of drugs and violence.

Trivia:
The jewelry store owner who gets robbed by Nicky's boys is an actual Las Vegas jeweler. His line "I just got a shipment of diamonds from Israel" was not in the script.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
Obvious dummy in the car immediately before the explosion.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Ace Rothstein:
[voice-over]
When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And for a while, I believed, that's the kind of love I had.
[Ace's car explodes]

User Review

An underrated and undervalued Scorsese Classic

Rating: 10/10

If you haven't seen Casino yet, stop whatever it is you're doing, rush to
the nearest video store, rent it, and watch it. Along with Mean Streets
Casino is probably Scorsese's most underrated and unheralded picture. I
would also venture to say that this is probably his most ambitious film.
The film deals with a particular time period and a particular atmosphere
and
accomplishes an overwhelming achievement by creating and accurately
portraying both. The art direction is splendid, most likely the best of
any
film Scorsese has ever done. The acting is superb. I never thought Pesci
would be able to top his dynamic performance in Raging Bull until I saw
Casino. Every time I watch this picture I fall in love with it all over
again. This is the most honest depiction of Las Vegas, especially of the
time period it was portrayed in. Scorsese's direction is flawless.
Perhaps
it is because I watch alot of Scorsese and Kubrick films, but I am becoming
less satisfied with plot driven films and more enamored by films that
possess the freedom that typical stories just don't seem to hold. Sharon
Stone gives the best performance of her career, and as far as the editing
is
concerned, well if you believe like Kubrick and Pudovkin that a film is not
shot, but built who better to have on your team than long time cohort,
collaborator, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Ultimately, the genius of
Scorsese is not just in the mastery of the medium, but in the understanding
and appreciation for the necessity of great collaborators on all levels
that
Scorsese has consistently utilized throughout his career. Casino
exemplifies not only the best of a Scorsese film, but transcends it. This
film is truly a gem.